This is the part of the trip that if you remember by one of my first blogs is the whole reason this trip became more than a pipe-dream. Thats right, after leaving Jameson we headed towards Scariff and the make believe like thatched roof cottage that we had found online.
The drive there seemed to take forever. In part I'm sure its because of the building anticipation of getting there, the fact that I was worried we would arrive too late for what would be thought of as considerate for the owner & the fact that we got stuck behind a convoy of tractors. Thats right, once we go to close as to be able to palpably sense and feel the cottage's presence we got stuck behind a convoy of about 5 tractors that were on some kind of charity drive. Their top speed was between 15-20 MPH! As was typical it was on a winding 1 lane each way road that you couldn't see around the next curve to find out if it was safe to pass. Luckily the tractor driver's took pity on us and waived us past when the lead driver saw it was clear for us to go. After that it was smooth sailing and we rolled up to the cottage at about 9-10 PM.
I had emailed Fidelma about 2 weeks before our trip to ask her about fishing for Joe & also to find out her procedures/requests for checking into the cottage. Her response was that we weren't to worry ourselves about it, that all would be worked out when we arrived. Well we arrived but quickly realized where there was nobody there & no key to be found under the welcome mat that we had no cell phone. I drove back into town & Tracy ran into the ice cream store to call her. No answer. We waited & I tried again, this time Fidelma answered & low and behold she was at the cottage with the rest of our group!
I can't tell you how amazing this cottage is. It was sunset on the valley behind the cottage when we arrived, there are 2 donkey's that greet you as you pull up & the cottage itself is straight out of the Quiet Man. Mom would have loved it. As I mentioned previously, there were signs as to why this would be the perfect place to stay & let me just tell you now. Our expectations were exceeded!!
Here are the signs again...I still think Mom sent them my way as I fell in love with the place:
From outside it is quaint & stereotypical of what one would think when they imagine what Ireland might look like
Mom's favorite flower was the yellow rose, outside the main door of the cottage, on either side of the door are giant yellow rose bushes.
Upstairs in the loft area is a spinning wheel, Mom was a spinner! &
On one of the plant shelves in the kitchen was an old black Singer sewing machine very similar to the one mom used to have!!
My favorite part of the house, silly as it sounds was the split farm door. It was bright red set against the stark white of the cottage. Best of all, we could open the main door & keep the bottom split closed & lean out and just bask in the amazing view!! I would spend a bit of time every morning there with my cup of coffee and soak it all up. I cannot do justice to how beautiful a sight it was so if/when I can figure this thing out a bit more I'll try to put up a photo so you can see for yourself.
The cottage also came with a real peat burning fire. Our first night there the fireplace was already lit by Fidelma so we had only to keep it going. On the 2nd night the boys found out how difficult it is to actually get the fire going to begin with! I think it took them about a solid hour before the fire was going without having to be constantly tended to. Seriously it would be going great & then within minutes it would die down without the peat actually catching. By the end of the trip we had purchased a new box of fire starters because we had used so many in our attempts to start & keep the fire going the first few nights :) The effort was well worth it as the fireplace just added to the homey feeling at night time.
I can go on and on about the cottage as it was one of my favorite things about the trip, but I don't want to bore you too much. Perhaps I'll find a way to just post some pictures of the place to let you gain the understanding on your own. If you ever get the chance to visit Ireland, I cannot recommend the Barley Cove Thatched Cottage enough. If I could purchase it I would happily move there!!
Sunday, August 19, 2012
Forget Whiskey Row...
Our morning in Kinsale was spent walking through the downtown area shopping. It was an absolutely gorgeous morning and Joe & Kaylene opted to sleep in the cars to wait as Bettina, Tracy, Kelly & I opted to soak up as much of the environment as we could.
It was low tide at the harbor and all of the boats were stuck in the mud but it was still an amazing sight to see. We sat on the harbor wall just watching the fish in the 1 foot of water come in to the bugs from the surface. To say that our morning was relaxing might be an understatement. Kaylene & Joe missed out!!
After we spend more time than we had planned soaking up the scenery & stores, it was back to the road we went as we had more sights to see. On the way from Kinsale to Scarrif where the cottage is we first had to stop at a very important location that is near and dear to Kelly's heart. Thats right, we had to stop at Jameson!!
Now on the off chance that someone reading this doesn't know what Jameson is, it is a distillery of whiskey. Not any whiskey, Kelly's favorite drink & go to drink of choice outside of Guinness. Tracy navigated us there with no issues. She claims she is not a drinker & she had taken her first shot of Jameson only days before so perhaps she was drawn to it like a magnet, I'm not saying anything but me thinks she may have enjoyed the Jameson more than she was willing to admit :)
When you walk up the path to the distillery the the first thing you see is a pristine copper distiller. It is set in the ground in a patch of green that is so vividly green it looks unreal. Behind the distiller is the first view of the old/original distillery, a grey building with dozens of bright red doors dotting the side of the building. We would later find out that there were so many doors on all the levels to help contain the location of a fire if one were to break out as the grains were being dried.
Upon entering the building the next thing you see is a gorgeous chandelier. It is 5 tiers of the green Jameson bottle and it practically glows from within. Who knew that a light built from empty whiskey bottles could be so pretty. I'm not even a whiskey drinker and I found it to be very cool :) Our tour was lead by Sinead (not the once popular bald Irish singer, rather a cute little girl with a full head of blonde hair!) The tour is of the old restored distillery where Jameson was started. Its all very educational, but lets get real, Kelly was more excited that he would get to sample their product. Not only that, he & Bettina volunteered to be official tasters who to to compare Jameson to Johnny Walker & Jack Daniels so they could taste the difference that Sinead had just been explaining to us during the tour. They both confirm that you can tell that Johnny walker dries their grains over an open wood fire as they could taste the smoky taste in the whiskey. If I remember correctly their order of preference was Jameson, Jack & lastly Johnny. What really matters is that the two of them were given certificates verifying that they are officially qualified to now be Jameson taste testers!!
The rest of us were given the option of a Jameson shot or a mixed drink using Jameson (we didn't get the Johnny Walker or Jack). Believe what you will, but I actually turned down the Jameson shot/mixed drink as again, I'm not a whiskey drinker. Guinness I'll take, whiskey not so much. What I did take a way is an appreciation that I didn't have before as every single bottle of Jameson is distilled at this location. It is not made anywhere else in the world as Jameson has only the 1 distillery to date!
Enough talk about whiskey for now....its time to get to the cottage!
It was low tide at the harbor and all of the boats were stuck in the mud but it was still an amazing sight to see. We sat on the harbor wall just watching the fish in the 1 foot of water come in to the bugs from the surface. To say that our morning was relaxing might be an understatement. Kaylene & Joe missed out!!
After we spend more time than we had planned soaking up the scenery & stores, it was back to the road we went as we had more sights to see. On the way from Kinsale to Scarrif where the cottage is we first had to stop at a very important location that is near and dear to Kelly's heart. Thats right, we had to stop at Jameson!!
Now on the off chance that someone reading this doesn't know what Jameson is, it is a distillery of whiskey. Not any whiskey, Kelly's favorite drink & go to drink of choice outside of Guinness. Tracy navigated us there with no issues. She claims she is not a drinker & she had taken her first shot of Jameson only days before so perhaps she was drawn to it like a magnet, I'm not saying anything but me thinks she may have enjoyed the Jameson more than she was willing to admit :)
When you walk up the path to the distillery the the first thing you see is a pristine copper distiller. It is set in the ground in a patch of green that is so vividly green it looks unreal. Behind the distiller is the first view of the old/original distillery, a grey building with dozens of bright red doors dotting the side of the building. We would later find out that there were so many doors on all the levels to help contain the location of a fire if one were to break out as the grains were being dried.
Upon entering the building the next thing you see is a gorgeous chandelier. It is 5 tiers of the green Jameson bottle and it practically glows from within. Who knew that a light built from empty whiskey bottles could be so pretty. I'm not even a whiskey drinker and I found it to be very cool :) Our tour was lead by Sinead (not the once popular bald Irish singer, rather a cute little girl with a full head of blonde hair!) The tour is of the old restored distillery where Jameson was started. Its all very educational, but lets get real, Kelly was more excited that he would get to sample their product. Not only that, he & Bettina volunteered to be official tasters who to to compare Jameson to Johnny Walker & Jack Daniels so they could taste the difference that Sinead had just been explaining to us during the tour. They both confirm that you can tell that Johnny walker dries their grains over an open wood fire as they could taste the smoky taste in the whiskey. If I remember correctly their order of preference was Jameson, Jack & lastly Johnny. What really matters is that the two of them were given certificates verifying that they are officially qualified to now be Jameson taste testers!!
The rest of us were given the option of a Jameson shot or a mixed drink using Jameson (we didn't get the Johnny Walker or Jack). Believe what you will, but I actually turned down the Jameson shot/mixed drink as again, I'm not a whiskey drinker. Guinness I'll take, whiskey not so much. What I did take a way is an appreciation that I didn't have before as every single bottle of Jameson is distilled at this location. It is not made anywhere else in the world as Jameson has only the 1 distillery to date!
Enough talk about whiskey for now....its time to get to the cottage!
Dalton's Pub & Oliver
Oliver..oh Oliver
As many of my avid readers know, when one has a drink or two the natural inclination is to find a restroom (but don't call it that in IRE...its not a bathroom, a restroom, the ladies room or any other euphemism...its a toilet, a no frills toilet!) So after a pint or two I
Bettina made her way to the toilet which is outside on the "smoking patio" for the pub. The patio is about 4 feet wide by about 12 feet long. Its just long enough for a row of chairs against 1 wall & a few spent kegs for seating along the other. When she comes back in she tells me that I just have to go out to the patio and that it was awesome. Now in my mind I was thinking...yeah whatever I've seen walk-in closets with more space than this "patio". I go out anyway because, well why not.
I am so glad that I did. Turns out there was this older gentleman that was outside just singing away. Little ditties with a traditional Irish sound to them that you can't help but tap your toes to. I had never heard any of his tunes and probably for good reason. The majority of the ones I heard were dirty & hilarious. This man who was keeping the entire patio area entertained is a local by the name of Oliver. Kaylene fell in love with him & wanted to bring him home with us, I have to say, I think all of us had a little crush on him by the end...even Kelly & Joe had man-crushes I think.
After Oliver sang a song titled "To the Moon" about a monkey going to the moon he told me a story that went along with the song. As he tells it one of his good friends moved to America & became an astronaut. He goes on to tell me that this friend of his has since gone to the international space station and that Oliver himself had the honor of doing a "wake-up" call to his friend. According to Oliver he sang "To the Moon" and Nasa played it to all the astronauts to wake the up one morning as a gift to his friend who was there at the time. Now I had just been to Blarney Castle a few short hours before so I thought Oliver was just feeding me a bunch of blarney & was laughing it off as a great story when Oliver suddenly became serious and told me to google it.
I didn't google until I got home from my trip because...well I didn't want to pull my iPad out again after everyone had been drinking...after I had been drinking :) Since leaving I can confirm that Oliver did indeed sing his ditty as a wake up call to the astronauts of the international space station for his friend who moved from Kinsale Ireland to the USA!! If you want to hear the ditty, I am sharing the link I found when I googled Oliver...its not the whole song but it will give you a bit of an idea about what we were lucky enough to experience that night.
Oliver
Thank you Daltons Pub...thank you for wi-fi and thank you for Oliver!
As many of my avid readers know, when one has a drink or two the natural inclination is to find a restroom (but don't call it that in IRE...its not a bathroom, a restroom, the ladies room or any other euphemism...its a toilet, a no frills toilet!) So after a pint or two I
Bettina made her way to the toilet which is outside on the "smoking patio" for the pub. The patio is about 4 feet wide by about 12 feet long. Its just long enough for a row of chairs against 1 wall & a few spent kegs for seating along the other. When she comes back in she tells me that I just have to go out to the patio and that it was awesome. Now in my mind I was thinking...yeah whatever I've seen walk-in closets with more space than this "patio". I go out anyway because, well why not.
I am so glad that I did. Turns out there was this older gentleman that was outside just singing away. Little ditties with a traditional Irish sound to them that you can't help but tap your toes to. I had never heard any of his tunes and probably for good reason. The majority of the ones I heard were dirty & hilarious. This man who was keeping the entire patio area entertained is a local by the name of Oliver. Kaylene fell in love with him & wanted to bring him home with us, I have to say, I think all of us had a little crush on him by the end...even Kelly & Joe had man-crushes I think.
After Oliver sang a song titled "To the Moon" about a monkey going to the moon he told me a story that went along with the song. As he tells it one of his good friends moved to America & became an astronaut. He goes on to tell me that this friend of his has since gone to the international space station and that Oliver himself had the honor of doing a "wake-up" call to his friend. According to Oliver he sang "To the Moon" and Nasa played it to all the astronauts to wake the up one morning as a gift to his friend who was there at the time. Now I had just been to Blarney Castle a few short hours before so I thought Oliver was just feeding me a bunch of blarney & was laughing it off as a great story when Oliver suddenly became serious and told me to google it.
I didn't google until I got home from my trip because...well I didn't want to pull my iPad out again after everyone had been drinking...after I had been drinking :) Since leaving I can confirm that Oliver did indeed sing his ditty as a wake up call to the astronauts of the international space station for his friend who moved from Kinsale Ireland to the USA!! If you want to hear the ditty, I am sharing the link I found when I googled Oliver...its not the whole song but it will give you a bit of an idea about what we were lucky enough to experience that night.
Oliver
Thank you Daltons Pub...thank you for wi-fi and thank you for Oliver!
Kinsale Vs. Wi-Fi
Its been a long day & its time to finally make our way down to Kinsale. I have heard so much about this town & viewed tons of photos online thanks to Google. It looks amazing & I can't wait to get there. Unfortunately we had to drive back through the traffic filled city of Cork. Who knew this was such a booming metropolis in Ireland. Also, who puts traffic lights in the middle of a round about. Doesn't that defeat the purpose of a round about? It was on the way out of Cork that my car got separated from Joe's thanks to poor timing at a traffic signal. Joe made it, I didn't. Unfortunately there was also construction going on so we couldn't see what exit from the roundabout that Joe had taken. As my light turned green I took the first exit...no Joe so I turn around and go back thru the roundabout & take the 2nd exit...no Joe, so I turn around again & take the last exit...still no Joe. At this point I just looked at Kelly and told him to get the map & we'd get there on our own like we did when we went to Donegal.
As luck would have it, we were headed in the right direction before Kelly could even figure out where we were on the map (mainly because we hadn't really been paying attention to street names as we were concentrating on not losing Joe's car...which we lost anyway). The road leading into Kinsale opens you to a view of the harbor & colorful downtown area. Holy crap it is even more scenic than the photos I saw online give it credit for. As I wind my way into town however the roads became decidedly more narrow and there is nowhere for you to move over to in the event that an oncoming car is bigger than the size of a gnat! There is also no straight roadway in the entire town & we have absolutely no idea how to get to the Ashgrove B&B. I pull into a parking lot for a tourist/visitor center, but wouldn't you know it, the place was closed. Being the amazingly quick on my feet thinker (hahahaha) I sent Kelly across the street to the chocolate store to ask for directions, not that I had ulterior motives or anything, but can you believe Kelly only came back with a map of the town & directions. I mean seriously where was the friggen chocolate!!
We find our way up the walking path...err I mean up the road & find the B&B with no problems once we have the non chocolate map. Upon our arrival Bettina comes running out with such relief on her face that it is obvious that they thought I was going to go ballistic on them for losing me once again. Admittedly it was through no fault of their own this time & probably because the view upon getting to Kinsale was very calming I was in a great mood. Not only because of where we were, but because I was going to Skype with my dad tonight for the first time since we got there. The B&B had wireless!! Well okay it was supposed to have wireless anyway. Oh well it was a nice idea.
By the time we reach Kinsale it is dinner time and we are all starving since we hadn't had anything to eat since leaving Belfast early that morning. Our B&B host, Martina, gave us a list of places we might find some grub. We decide on a place called the White House. I had brought my iPad just in case they had wi-fi as I was not ready to give up on Skyping with pops. Alas, the restaurant did not have wi-fi. There was a cafe next door so I decide to go over there to test the waters...I mean what cafe/coffee shop now a days doesn't have wi-fi. The answer...the one in Kinsale. Thats right still no wi-fi, but oddly enough my iPad does detect a wi-fi in the area. As I walk around to see where it gets stronger I can't help myself...I started laughing out loud. So the coffee shop doesn't have wi-fi, but the pub does! We make our decision that this pub is now the pub we will spend the remainder of our evening at so that I can call my dad at the designated time. Apparently not many people do this as we got some funny looks as every web addicted person in our group got online to send updates to friends...emails & photos etc. After about an hour I go just outside the front door so it will be a little quieter when calling pops. When he answers I immediately tell him that he is at the pub with me & I think he finds that a bit humorous. Its just too bad it was dark out, I would have loved if dad could have seen the colorful town & street from where I stood. The party was really getting going in the short time I had been on the phone with pops. It seems the Guinness & Jameson had started to flow freely! Let the fun begin again...
As luck would have it, we were headed in the right direction before Kelly could even figure out where we were on the map (mainly because we hadn't really been paying attention to street names as we were concentrating on not losing Joe's car...which we lost anyway). The road leading into Kinsale opens you to a view of the harbor & colorful downtown area. Holy crap it is even more scenic than the photos I saw online give it credit for. As I wind my way into town however the roads became decidedly more narrow and there is nowhere for you to move over to in the event that an oncoming car is bigger than the size of a gnat! There is also no straight roadway in the entire town & we have absolutely no idea how to get to the Ashgrove B&B. I pull into a parking lot for a tourist/visitor center, but wouldn't you know it, the place was closed. Being the amazingly quick on my feet thinker (hahahaha) I sent Kelly across the street to the chocolate store to ask for directions, not that I had ulterior motives or anything, but can you believe Kelly only came back with a map of the town & directions. I mean seriously where was the friggen chocolate!!
We find our way up the walking path...err I mean up the road & find the B&B with no problems once we have the non chocolate map. Upon our arrival Bettina comes running out with such relief on her face that it is obvious that they thought I was going to go ballistic on them for losing me once again. Admittedly it was through no fault of their own this time & probably because the view upon getting to Kinsale was very calming I was in a great mood. Not only because of where we were, but because I was going to Skype with my dad tonight for the first time since we got there. The B&B had wireless!! Well okay it was supposed to have wireless anyway. Oh well it was a nice idea.
By the time we reach Kinsale it is dinner time and we are all starving since we hadn't had anything to eat since leaving Belfast early that morning. Our B&B host, Martina, gave us a list of places we might find some grub. We decide on a place called the White House. I had brought my iPad just in case they had wi-fi as I was not ready to give up on Skyping with pops. Alas, the restaurant did not have wi-fi. There was a cafe next door so I decide to go over there to test the waters...I mean what cafe/coffee shop now a days doesn't have wi-fi. The answer...the one in Kinsale. Thats right still no wi-fi, but oddly enough my iPad does detect a wi-fi in the area. As I walk around to see where it gets stronger I can't help myself...I started laughing out loud. So the coffee shop doesn't have wi-fi, but the pub does! We make our decision that this pub is now the pub we will spend the remainder of our evening at so that I can call my dad at the designated time. Apparently not many people do this as we got some funny looks as every web addicted person in our group got online to send updates to friends...emails & photos etc. After about an hour I go just outside the front door so it will be a little quieter when calling pops. When he answers I immediately tell him that he is at the pub with me & I think he finds that a bit humorous. Its just too bad it was dark out, I would have loved if dad could have seen the colorful town & street from where I stood. The party was really getting going in the short time I had been on the phone with pops. It seems the Guinness & Jameson had started to flow freely! Let the fun begin again...
Whats My Gift?
Let me just tell you, my car was just a barrel of energy on our drive from Northern Ireland down to the southern region. My guess is that it had to something to do with the chitlin's nightlife. I was just hoping that their car-ride beauty sleep would help to energize them as both were sound asleep majority of the drive. They in fact had no idea until we got close that we were not actually going straight to Kinsale, rather we were taking a slight detour through Cork & then to Blarney.
Driving through Cork was frustrating as traffic was heavy, but we made it to Blarney. What I found amazing is that this is a big flippin castle and we still failed to find it immediately. I'll admit that in Blarney I got a wee bit upset with Joe. You see Tracy was finding it difficult to navigate as there were no really clear signs as to where we needed to go and everything there seems to have had Blarney in its name. After an unscheduled detour thanks to a wrong turn we had flipped a u-turn & headed back to town. It was at this point that Joseph decided to take a right turn in an area where right turns were not allowed. He nearly got himself hit by another car & I was forced to follow where traffic was meant to go. This was after countless requests by me that I'd rather they make a wrong turn and we flip a U-turn to correct it then to make a last second decision that I can't follow in suit due to the traffic I have following me. It was the last straw & I was pissed off. For any of you who knew my mom, then you know what my temper can be like. Joe for the first time in our friendship learned how my temper can rage sometimes. Don't get me wrong, I totally understand that due to the road signs vs the map that sometimes the lead car literally didn't know until last second which way to go. All I was asking was that the commit to a safe turn one way or another. What I' don't think they realized until this boiling point for me is that the cars behind us were not traveling with us, therefore they didn't have the patience for the literal stopping at a round about, or the last second turn that cuts off traffic. Oh no, until this point they were blissfully unaware that their driving habit had my car nearly hit multiple times from the rear. The straw the broke the camel's back was the last second turn this time that nearly had my car rear ended by a lorie (no, not by a woman....by their version of a semi!)
After having a spat at the Blarney gift shop we calmly (with a few looks of relief by the store staff) make our way onto the actual Blarney grounds. Within a few short minutes our spat was forgotten as we were transported back into awe-filled sight seeing. We have heard so much about this place before we left..."don't waste your time on this tourist trap", "who would want to kiss a stone that has been pissed on", "the stone is covered in lipstick & gum" etc. Well I'm here to say that I am happy we went anyway. The beauty of the castle as you approach from the walk is amazing. I'm guessing you have to kiss the blarney stone to get the gift of blarney just to regain your power of speech after your first glimpse from afar. I can only imagine what this place must have looked like in its hay-day. As you get closer there is an exploratory area where you can climb in and out of the caves at the base of the castle itself. We definitely took advantage of this to act like the children we are :)
The signs take you around the castle to the front to gain entry and as you slowly begin the climb to the top of the castle walls there are a few stops for the views & explanations about the family that didn't think the grounds were fit to be lived on etc (really those people were clearly out of their minds...) but lets get real, people just stop to read those signs so they don't appear too excited to reach the summit & the lore filled stone that bestows a gift to its visitors. It is here that I'd like to point out that despite the death-trap like spiral "staircase" that takes you to the top I made it safely...if one defines safely as slipping and falling only 1x. Bettina, Joe and I reach the top first because we opted to go straight up vs stopping in empty areas that used to be rooms for blah blah blah blah....give us the blarney!! Bettina was up first & all I could think of while watching her was 1. I hope she doesn't fall 2. I hope she can reach the bottom stone (aka the Blarney Stone) & 3. I hope when its my turn that the old man assisting everyone has enough strength to hold me as I am shorter & thus have to scootch majority of my weight over the edge.
After snapping a picture of Bettina's lips making contact with the stone it is my turn. Its now or never & they way I see things, when in Ireland...so I sat my bum down & leaned back. By "leaned back" I mean I practically did a back bend while having a death grip on the bars they have installed for assistance. Thanks to watching Bettina I knew I had to lean back further in order to kiss the stone so I was quick about my business. I didn't trust that the old (but nice) man helping out could hold me for more than a few second. Unfortunately I was too fast for Joe so no picture for me. Joe decided that he didn't need to kiss the stone, not sure if its because he realized we were about 3 stories up or because he didn't want some old man holding him up over the edge of the wall. At any rate, by the time we were done the rest of the group had reached the wall & were in line themselves to give her a go. I became the official photographer-o-the kiss & got multiple shots of the rest of our group.
As we made our way down to the ground level we found that to the back of the castle is a gorgeous but deadly garden. I mean that literally. It was beautiful but every plant had a warning sign about not touching/eating the plant due to its unfortunate effects. You see it was a "poison garden". Used for various reasons by those back in the day who may or may not choose to do things that may or may not cause others to be temporarily ill or worse. Most of the plants didn't seem to be so bad, like poison ivy, but there were a few plants that were literally inside cages so nobody could accidentally come into contact with them.
Rick Steve's warns against visiting this landmark, but I have to say that after experiencing the beauty this castle and the fun that this castle has to offer I say he got it wrong on this one. Yes it is a tourist trap to a degree, but it is a tourist hot-spot for a reason!! I mean the place gives you a gift for crying out loud...you leave with the gift of Blarney!!!
Driving through Cork was frustrating as traffic was heavy, but we made it to Blarney. What I found amazing is that this is a big flippin castle and we still failed to find it immediately. I'll admit that in Blarney I got a wee bit upset with Joe. You see Tracy was finding it difficult to navigate as there were no really clear signs as to where we needed to go and everything there seems to have had Blarney in its name. After an unscheduled detour thanks to a wrong turn we had flipped a u-turn & headed back to town. It was at this point that Joseph decided to take a right turn in an area where right turns were not allowed. He nearly got himself hit by another car & I was forced to follow where traffic was meant to go. This was after countless requests by me that I'd rather they make a wrong turn and we flip a U-turn to correct it then to make a last second decision that I can't follow in suit due to the traffic I have following me. It was the last straw & I was pissed off. For any of you who knew my mom, then you know what my temper can be like. Joe for the first time in our friendship learned how my temper can rage sometimes. Don't get me wrong, I totally understand that due to the road signs vs the map that sometimes the lead car literally didn't know until last second which way to go. All I was asking was that the commit to a safe turn one way or another. What I' don't think they realized until this boiling point for me is that the cars behind us were not traveling with us, therefore they didn't have the patience for the literal stopping at a round about, or the last second turn that cuts off traffic. Oh no, until this point they were blissfully unaware that their driving habit had my car nearly hit multiple times from the rear. The straw the broke the camel's back was the last second turn this time that nearly had my car rear ended by a lorie (no, not by a woman....by their version of a semi!)
After having a spat at the Blarney gift shop we calmly (with a few looks of relief by the store staff) make our way onto the actual Blarney grounds. Within a few short minutes our spat was forgotten as we were transported back into awe-filled sight seeing. We have heard so much about this place before we left..."don't waste your time on this tourist trap", "who would want to kiss a stone that has been pissed on", "the stone is covered in lipstick & gum" etc. Well I'm here to say that I am happy we went anyway. The beauty of the castle as you approach from the walk is amazing. I'm guessing you have to kiss the blarney stone to get the gift of blarney just to regain your power of speech after your first glimpse from afar. I can only imagine what this place must have looked like in its hay-day. As you get closer there is an exploratory area where you can climb in and out of the caves at the base of the castle itself. We definitely took advantage of this to act like the children we are :)
The signs take you around the castle to the front to gain entry and as you slowly begin the climb to the top of the castle walls there are a few stops for the views & explanations about the family that didn't think the grounds were fit to be lived on etc (really those people were clearly out of their minds...) but lets get real, people just stop to read those signs so they don't appear too excited to reach the summit & the lore filled stone that bestows a gift to its visitors. It is here that I'd like to point out that despite the death-trap like spiral "staircase" that takes you to the top I made it safely...if one defines safely as slipping and falling only 1x. Bettina, Joe and I reach the top first because we opted to go straight up vs stopping in empty areas that used to be rooms for blah blah blah blah....give us the blarney!! Bettina was up first & all I could think of while watching her was 1. I hope she doesn't fall 2. I hope she can reach the bottom stone (aka the Blarney Stone) & 3. I hope when its my turn that the old man assisting everyone has enough strength to hold me as I am shorter & thus have to scootch majority of my weight over the edge.
After snapping a picture of Bettina's lips making contact with the stone it is my turn. Its now or never & they way I see things, when in Ireland...so I sat my bum down & leaned back. By "leaned back" I mean I practically did a back bend while having a death grip on the bars they have installed for assistance. Thanks to watching Bettina I knew I had to lean back further in order to kiss the stone so I was quick about my business. I didn't trust that the old (but nice) man helping out could hold me for more than a few second. Unfortunately I was too fast for Joe so no picture for me. Joe decided that he didn't need to kiss the stone, not sure if its because he realized we were about 3 stories up or because he didn't want some old man holding him up over the edge of the wall. At any rate, by the time we were done the rest of the group had reached the wall & were in line themselves to give her a go. I became the official photographer-o-the kiss & got multiple shots of the rest of our group.
As we made our way down to the ground level we found that to the back of the castle is a gorgeous but deadly garden. I mean that literally. It was beautiful but every plant had a warning sign about not touching/eating the plant due to its unfortunate effects. You see it was a "poison garden". Used for various reasons by those back in the day who may or may not choose to do things that may or may not cause others to be temporarily ill or worse. Most of the plants didn't seem to be so bad, like poison ivy, but there were a few plants that were literally inside cages so nobody could accidentally come into contact with them.
Rick Steve's warns against visiting this landmark, but I have to say that after experiencing the beauty this castle and the fun that this castle has to offer I say he got it wrong on this one. Yes it is a tourist trap to a degree, but it is a tourist hot-spot for a reason!! I mean the place gives you a gift for crying out loud...you leave with the gift of Blarney!!!
On the Road Again
So it is very friggen early. Too early to be up during my vacation, but we have a long day of driving ahead of us today. We left Kaylene & Kelly to their own devices in Belfast as the rest of us stayed with Patrick which means we have to drive the 15-20 minutes back into the heart of Belfast in order to pick up the chitlins. I think perhaps the only thing keeping me in good spirits this morning is that I woke up to my t-rex duvet cover....that and the sheer fact that I'm still in Ireland!!
So staying with Patrick has been awesome, not just because he has an amazing job in football, or because he helped arrange a visit with Belfast's Lord Mayor, or because of the insightful tour of the Belfast Murals...no, it was partially awesome because Patrick has a normal human size shower! Seriously. You try to take a shower in a stall so tiny that your butt opens the shower door accidentally when you try to wash your legs (not to mention attempting to shave!!) While my shower was frigid by the time I was able to rinse the shampoo from my hair I didn't give a hoot!! I even shaved for the 1st time on the trip. Yes, I realize this is probably more information than you actually wanted, but seriously it was totally exciting!!
Anyway, we had to get up early to pick up the chitlins...so early that we in fact beat Patrick up for the morning...and he had to still go to work. After we all said our goodbye with heavy hearts, we made the drive back into Belfast. Thankfully by this time we knew how to get where we were going! Unfortunately for Kaylene & Kelly this meant that we were actually on time to pick them up. I'll give you 2 guesses as to who wasn't quite ready by the time we got to the hotel. Luckily for them the hotel had a restaurant in it so we all got breakfast while giving them some more time to finish their morning routines. I even got them a care package of cross ants & muffins since they were missing breakfast.
.....and thus the circus was back on the road!
So staying with Patrick has been awesome, not just because he has an amazing job in football, or because he helped arrange a visit with Belfast's Lord Mayor, or because of the insightful tour of the Belfast Murals...no, it was partially awesome because Patrick has a normal human size shower! Seriously. You try to take a shower in a stall so tiny that your butt opens the shower door accidentally when you try to wash your legs (not to mention attempting to shave!!) While my shower was frigid by the time I was able to rinse the shampoo from my hair I didn't give a hoot!! I even shaved for the 1st time on the trip. Yes, I realize this is probably more information than you actually wanted, but seriously it was totally exciting!!
Anyway, we had to get up early to pick up the chitlins...so early that we in fact beat Patrick up for the morning...and he had to still go to work. After we all said our goodbye with heavy hearts, we made the drive back into Belfast. Thankfully by this time we knew how to get where we were going! Unfortunately for Kaylene & Kelly this meant that we were actually on time to pick them up. I'll give you 2 guesses as to who wasn't quite ready by the time we got to the hotel. Luckily for them the hotel had a restaurant in it so we all got breakfast while giving them some more time to finish their morning routines. I even got them a care package of cross ants & muffins since they were missing breakfast.
.....and thus the circus was back on the road!
Tuesday, July 24, 2012
Northern Ireland
And on to Belfast we go!!
Belfast...ahhhh....WTF, I mean seriously...why can't this city have a map or street sign that is accurate. I think we must have made at least 5 u-turns before we just pulled into a parking lot in hopes of gaining our bearings.
The confusing streets actually made us feel like we were on the Grizwald's European vacation with them as we passed the same clock tower at least 3x. Seriously...we almost named a statue of a girl holding a hoop because we saw her 3x as well. After being lost for about 30 minutes we finally found the hotel that the kiddo's were staying at.
Thank god our host for the next two nights, Patrick, decided to come meet us vs us trying to find his home. Now Patrick...how do I describe him. Lets just say he has a job my brother would love to fill. Patrick is the CEO for the Northern Ireland Football Association. Thats right, the head of the Northern Ireland national team et all.
Patrick decides to take us out to dinner at an American diner called Springsteen's so we can feel a bit at home. One of his team (executive staff, not actual footballers) meets us as his wife is from Florida & just recently moved to Ireland. Our group was split up into 2 dable as there was not nearly enough room for all 9 of us at one table. Table 1 consisted of Bettina, Joe, Kaylene, Kelly & Patrick. Table 2 was myself, Tracy & Patrick's friend & wife. All I know is that before we left for Ireland I had joked with Bettina that I was going to hit Patrick up for a job because...well A) he lives in Ireland & B) the job would be in Football!!
Well as I was peacefully sitting there eating my Truman (aka mushroom swiss burger). Bettina yells across to me that Patrick is hiring! In fact, he was really hiring, he was actually conducting interviews the entire next day. All I know is that I jumped up & immediately pointed out that he shouldn't waste his time running interviews when I was clearly the best candidate for the position. Patrick was nice enough to humor me & thus the joke about me working for him lasted the remainder of our trip to NI. No but seriously, I'd have totally taken the job....and still will if he calls or emails me :)
I did however score his NI Football pin right from his lapel.
Belfast...ahhhh....WTF, I mean seriously...why can't this city have a map or street sign that is accurate. I think we must have made at least 5 u-turns before we just pulled into a parking lot in hopes of gaining our bearings.
The confusing streets actually made us feel like we were on the Grizwald's European vacation with them as we passed the same clock tower at least 3x. Seriously...we almost named a statue of a girl holding a hoop because we saw her 3x as well. After being lost for about 30 minutes we finally found the hotel that the kiddo's were staying at.Thank god our host for the next two nights, Patrick, decided to come meet us vs us trying to find his home. Now Patrick...how do I describe him. Lets just say he has a job my brother would love to fill. Patrick is the CEO for the Northern Ireland Football Association. Thats right, the head of the Northern Ireland national team et all.
Patrick decides to take us out to dinner at an American diner called Springsteen's so we can feel a bit at home. One of his team (executive staff, not actual footballers) meets us as his wife is from Florida & just recently moved to Ireland. Our group was split up into 2 dable as there was not nearly enough room for all 9 of us at one table. Table 1 consisted of Bettina, Joe, Kaylene, Kelly & Patrick. Table 2 was myself, Tracy & Patrick's friend & wife. All I know is that before we left for Ireland I had joked with Bettina that I was going to hit Patrick up for a job because...well A) he lives in Ireland & B) the job would be in Football!!
Well as I was peacefully sitting there eating my Truman (aka mushroom swiss burger). Bettina yells across to me that Patrick is hiring! In fact, he was really hiring, he was actually conducting interviews the entire next day. All I know is that I jumped up & immediately pointed out that he shouldn't waste his time running interviews when I was clearly the best candidate for the position. Patrick was nice enough to humor me & thus the joke about me working for him lasted the remainder of our trip to NI. No but seriously, I'd have totally taken the job....and still will if he calls or emails me :)
I did however score his NI Football pin right from his lapel.
Oh Bridge Where Art Thou
Carrakarick Rope Bridge
Before we left for Ireland, we had found out that in Northern Ireland, not far from the Giant's Causeway there was a rope bridge that we should try to see while we are there. Again going by the theory that we aren't in Ireland everyday we decided to take the trip to the bridge.
First of all, the view on the coastal route is arguably better than any coastal route I've been on in the States....on the left side you have breathtaking views of the Atlantic & miles of cliffs & shores & the other side you have rolling green hills speckled with sheep as far as the eye can see.....and the occasional castle sighting!!
Back to the bridge though. We arrive at the car park & walk up to the small booth to purchase our admission tickets. From the time it took to walk from the car to the ticket booth the fog rolled in. It was so thick that even though we were standing on the cliff we could only hear but not see the water & the crashing waves below. In my head I was wishing we could see the view of the ocean but also secretly hoping that I would hear a lone bag-piper in the distance.
Again I'm off on a tangent, I apologize. Thom, if you're reading this, you're welcome!
So, we have to walk from the ticket booth out to the actual rope bridge. What nobody tells you is that this bridge is about 1 1/2 miles and about half of that is uphill & down some steep uneven steps. It is however worth the hype. In our hike to the bridge, the fog drifted on and holy schneikes...the view. The water went from depths of deep blue/black water to that of cool nearly turquoise shades in the shallows.
We had to wait in a short line at the actual bridge as only 8 people at a time could cross it. When it was our turn I was the 2nd to cross (I think) and it was a bit shaky thanks to the wind but not bad at all, I was able to take a few shots from the bridge itself, we shall see if the photos turned out later. All I know is that behind me you would have thought Bettina had fallen thru the bridge. She did not care too much for the sway & vibrations of the rope bridge.
On the far side of the bridge however the efforts were rewarded even more. From this view we were able to look out on a small cove & what to our wondering eyes should appear but two small fins and some dolphins!! (sorry I couldn't think of anything that would rhyme with reindeer hahahah) But seriously, there were 2 dolphins out in the bay just having a good ol time. Awesome!
The crossing back over the bridge went smoother for Ms. Shaky legs Bettina & I was the last to cross back over to the far side. Tracy was the photog for this leg & she wanted me to slow down so she could catch some photos of me crossing. I obliged & actually took a surfer pose on the 1 foot wide board of the rope bridge.
Overall, the view & experience of the bridge I cannot pronounce was "Lovely"!
Before we left for Ireland, we had found out that in Northern Ireland, not far from the Giant's Causeway there was a rope bridge that we should try to see while we are there. Again going by the theory that we aren't in Ireland everyday we decided to take the trip to the bridge.
First of all, the view on the coastal route is arguably better than any coastal route I've been on in the States....on the left side you have breathtaking views of the Atlantic & miles of cliffs & shores & the other side you have rolling green hills speckled with sheep as far as the eye can see.....and the occasional castle sighting!!
Back to the bridge though. We arrive at the car park & walk up to the small booth to purchase our admission tickets. From the time it took to walk from the car to the ticket booth the fog rolled in. It was so thick that even though we were standing on the cliff we could only hear but not see the water & the crashing waves below. In my head I was wishing we could see the view of the ocean but also secretly hoping that I would hear a lone bag-piper in the distance.
Again I'm off on a tangent, I apologize. Thom, if you're reading this, you're welcome!
So, we have to walk from the ticket booth out to the actual rope bridge. What nobody tells you is that this bridge is about 1 1/2 miles and about half of that is uphill & down some steep uneven steps. It is however worth the hype. In our hike to the bridge, the fog drifted on and holy schneikes...the view. The water went from depths of deep blue/black water to that of cool nearly turquoise shades in the shallows. We had to wait in a short line at the actual bridge as only 8 people at a time could cross it. When it was our turn I was the 2nd to cross (I think) and it was a bit shaky thanks to the wind but not bad at all, I was able to take a few shots from the bridge itself, we shall see if the photos turned out later. All I know is that behind me you would have thought Bettina had fallen thru the bridge. She did not care too much for the sway & vibrations of the rope bridge.
On the far side of the bridge however the efforts were rewarded even more. From this view we were able to look out on a small cove & what to our wondering eyes should appear but two small fins and some dolphins!! (sorry I couldn't think of anything that would rhyme with reindeer hahahah) But seriously, there were 2 dolphins out in the bay just having a good ol time. Awesome!
The crossing back over the bridge went smoother for Ms. Shaky legs Bettina & I was the last to cross back over to the far side. Tracy was the photog for this leg & she wanted me to slow down so she could catch some photos of me crossing. I obliged & actually took a surfer pose on the 1 foot wide board of the rope bridge.
Giants Causeway
Giant's Causeway
What is the Giant's Causeway you ask. Well if you listen to the locals here you will find out that basically their giant, Finn, was in a fight with Scotland's giant. Finn however couldn't swim so he decided to walk to Scotland. In order to do so he built his path which is now known as the causeway.
It is on the northern shore of Ireland and it is made up of thousands of hexagonal stones & stone spires. When you see this amazing work of nature you can understand why the myth & lore of the giant exists. These stone pillars are of equal size & all symmetrical. If you were to look down on them from above I imagine it might look like a honey comb.
Since I'm in ireland every day I opted to take the "blue" path with everyone in our group. The blue path takes you down to the actual causeway itself vs. the other paths which give you a view from afar. Once down to the stones Tracy & I had a quick game of QBert....I think she may have won, though I don't know how to actually score points in our game...at any rate, I took off jumping from stone pillar to stone pillar until I reached the top of a hill on the coast. It was refreshing to have the wind blowing and to hear the waves crashing as I soaked in the awe inspiring beauty....it was at this point that I fell on my rear. Okay I didn't actually fall, but the wind was strong enough I thought I was going to.
The Causeway alone was worth the trip to Northern Ireland to see!
What is the Giant's Causeway you ask. Well if you listen to the locals here you will find out that basically their giant, Finn, was in a fight with Scotland's giant. Finn however couldn't swim so he decided to walk to Scotland. In order to do so he built his path which is now known as the causeway.
Since I'm in ireland every day I opted to take the "blue" path with everyone in our group. The blue path takes you down to the actual causeway itself vs. the other paths which give you a view from afar. Once down to the stones Tracy & I had a quick game of QBert....I think she may have won, though I don't know how to actually score points in our game...at any rate, I took off jumping from stone pillar to stone pillar until I reached the top of a hill on the coast. It was refreshing to have the wind blowing and to hear the waves crashing as I soaked in the awe inspiring beauty....it was at this point that I fell on my rear. Okay I didn't actually fall, but the wind was strong enough I thought I was going to.
The Causeway alone was worth the trip to Northern Ireland to see!
Now leaving Dublin..
On to Donegal!
First of all we were running a bit late to leave our rooms on day 3 of our expedition. Now I'm not blaming it on the late night in the Temple Bar District, but it could have been a factor. All I know is that when I got out of the shower and started to pack my bags Veep from downstairs called me and kindly advised me that we had missed their check out time. As a result I put out the alert to the troops that we had to get our bums in gear.
Joe immediately went downstairs and had Veep call us a taxi. What arrived was a "people mover" aka minivan. After loading all of our luggage we had to practically sit on each other's laps just to fit. It was worth it. The cabbie alone was worth the clown car ride to the rental car company. I can't remember all of the movies he advised that we watch, but he was kind enough to write down the list for us. He had us laughing the whole ride!
Skip forward to the actual rental car. We were entrusted to not one, but two Ford Focus Style cars. They are economy class cars. Joe's Focus is a diesel, mine is a petrol car. Either way you look at it, we are lucky that there are only 3 people to a car. If it weren't for that fact then our luggage would be an issue. As it is the "boot" is only large enough for 2 suitcases, the other luggage gets a seat where the 4th person would normally sit.
First challenge with the rental cars that we were worried about was driving manual transmission vehicles south paw'd. That however was not a problem in the least. As it turns out, caravanning was what we should be worried about. You see IRL loves their roundabouts and if one car makes the roundabout & the other has to yield, then quite possibly one might lose the other. This happened almost immediately. Luckily my car being the following car was able to stop and ask for some directions. Unfortunately what we never found the lead car, but we did find our way to Donegal. Upon arrival we checked in and about 10 minutes later our friends made it. Turns out that our car went one way at a detour & they went the other way.
Now before we went we read a lot about how the roads may be narrow etc, but what we were not prepared for is that "narrow" means that in some places in order for 2 cars to pass one of the cars has to dive for the non existent shoulder. When Joe's car arrived at the B&B it was black (the actual color of the car) & it had green pin-striping (the grass & shrubs stuck in his headlamps, fender & wheel wells). So far no major incidents with the cars and despite several heart attacks from passengers thinking that the driver's are about to hit walls all parties involved in the driving experience are doing well.
Our B&B is beautiful to say the least. It is a working sheep ranch. Our host informed us that in the morning her husband, Patsy, would be putting on an exhibition with their working ranch dogs. Sure enough, the next morning after a lovely traditional Irish breakfast we were treated to a show with the herding dogs. Aparently the B&B just recently agreed to a deal to put this exhibition on for the local tour buses in the area.
Now remember what I said earlier about narrow roads. I'd like you to please imagine a road that is so narrow 2 cars can barely pass. Now the tour coach is so large that it drives the center of the road & both sides of it hit the greenery on the side. I pity the fool who has to drive a mile in reverse just to get out of the coach's way.
Other than that, Donegal was a somewhat quiet day trip.
First of all we were running a bit late to leave our rooms on day 3 of our expedition. Now I'm not blaming it on the late night in the Temple Bar District, but it could have been a factor. All I know is that when I got out of the shower and started to pack my bags Veep from downstairs called me and kindly advised me that we had missed their check out time. As a result I put out the alert to the troops that we had to get our bums in gear.
Joe immediately went downstairs and had Veep call us a taxi. What arrived was a "people mover" aka minivan. After loading all of our luggage we had to practically sit on each other's laps just to fit. It was worth it. The cabbie alone was worth the clown car ride to the rental car company. I can't remember all of the movies he advised that we watch, but he was kind enough to write down the list for us. He had us laughing the whole ride!
Skip forward to the actual rental car. We were entrusted to not one, but two Ford Focus Style cars. They are economy class cars. Joe's Focus is a diesel, mine is a petrol car. Either way you look at it, we are lucky that there are only 3 people to a car. If it weren't for that fact then our luggage would be an issue. As it is the "boot" is only large enough for 2 suitcases, the other luggage gets a seat where the 4th person would normally sit.
First challenge with the rental cars that we were worried about was driving manual transmission vehicles south paw'd. That however was not a problem in the least. As it turns out, caravanning was what we should be worried about. You see IRL loves their roundabouts and if one car makes the roundabout & the other has to yield, then quite possibly one might lose the other. This happened almost immediately. Luckily my car being the following car was able to stop and ask for some directions. Unfortunately what we never found the lead car, but we did find our way to Donegal. Upon arrival we checked in and about 10 minutes later our friends made it. Turns out that our car went one way at a detour & they went the other way.
Now before we went we read a lot about how the roads may be narrow etc, but what we were not prepared for is that "narrow" means that in some places in order for 2 cars to pass one of the cars has to dive for the non existent shoulder. When Joe's car arrived at the B&B it was black (the actual color of the car) & it had green pin-striping (the grass & shrubs stuck in his headlamps, fender & wheel wells). So far no major incidents with the cars and despite several heart attacks from passengers thinking that the driver's are about to hit walls all parties involved in the driving experience are doing well.
Other than that, Donegal was a somewhat quiet day trip.
Temple Bar District
Our first night of true debauchery! That would otherwise be known as day two in Dublin, Temple Bar District. I have no idea the name of the pub we went to as it was in Gaelic but holy Guinness did we have a good time.
It starts out with us finding a table in the back of the place. To our left was a table full of Frenchmen & to our right was a table full of Spanish girls. Things started innocently enough, a few Guinness flowed and a live band of 2 men with acoustic guitars were playing. Now they weren't playing traditional Irish music, rather they were playing some more modern choices. It was all good, half the time we were singing along.
I should have noted that things were going to get a bit crazier when 2 of our group...and by 2 I mean 3-4 people decided to get some Jameson along with the Guinness. Next thing I know, 2 cute Irish boys thought they'd have some fun with me. I found myself being serenaded by a boy we now call Ambercrombie thanks to the shirt he was wearing.
Now I can't go into all the details here, suffice to say that at one point the 2 boys thought they'd give it a go to pick up the chair I was occupying. Luckily I was quick & agile like the puma I am & avoided being dropped to the floor.
I don't think I have laughed so much in such a short period of time than I did that night. Thank you Dublin...thank you.
It starts out with us finding a table in the back of the place. To our left was a table full of Frenchmen & to our right was a table full of Spanish girls. Things started innocently enough, a few Guinness flowed and a live band of 2 men with acoustic guitars were playing. Now they weren't playing traditional Irish music, rather they were playing some more modern choices. It was all good, half the time we were singing along.
I should have noted that things were going to get a bit crazier when 2 of our group...and by 2 I mean 3-4 people decided to get some Jameson along with the Guinness. Next thing I know, 2 cute Irish boys thought they'd have some fun with me. I found myself being serenaded by a boy we now call Ambercrombie thanks to the shirt he was wearing.
Now I can't go into all the details here, suffice to say that at one point the 2 boys thought they'd give it a go to pick up the chair I was occupying. Luckily I was quick & agile like the puma I am & avoided being dropped to the floor.
I don't think I have laughed so much in such a short period of time than I did that night. Thank you Dublin...thank you.
Day 2
Dublin, Part Deaux
So day 2 begins.
We head out on foot as we decided not to pick up a rental car until we leave tomorrow. After a quick coffee and breakfast sandwich at the local shop downstairs we walked for a bit to Trinity College. This is home to the famous Book of Kells.
The line to get into the old library & the Book of Kells was a long one, we had to queue up outside. At this point you should probably know that it was raining...not a heavy downfall, more of a light sprinkle to mist. From what the locals tell us it has been unseasonably rainy even for them). As we waited outside in the rain I noticed that the Death Star from Star Wars was on display.
Okay it wasn't really the death star, it was a rotating sculpture/artwork outside. If you look at the pictures you will totally see what I mean.
Back to the library & the Kells. Oh my gosh, this was so totally worth it. The library alone reminded me of something you might see in Harry Potter. The smell....I can't describe it, but it even smelled like I imagine it would in the HP movie. I was only disappointed to realize that no book was going to magically float up to put itself away. The Book of Kells was just as amazing. Seeing it in person & seeing how it came to be and the hours, days and months of hand scribing that went into it was just impressive.
From Trinity College we headed on & came across Dublin Castle. We were going to tour it, but we would have had to wait an hour or so until the next tour went on so we just took a lot of pictures and walked on.
In so doing we moved on to see St. Patrick's Cathedral. Holy goodness this place was truly inspiring. I was impressed that something so beautiful & grand could have been built when it was. Upon entering the church I actually felt more peaceful. Each of the rows where one would traditionally find pews were individual wooden chairs. What was cool was that each chair had its own seat cushion that someone had created needlepoint works of art with. Each cushion was different and represented something different. Amazing. The history on display truly makes one sit in awe that society is where it is today. I sat for a bit one one of the chairs and had a moment to take everything in & to say a few words with my mom. She would have loved this Cathedral. After my lil cry I thought it best to wrap up my visit. I needed no souvenir from St. Patricks as I felt it is something that will be in my heart for the remainder of my time.
From St. Patrick's we walked on some more & found ourselves at the Guinness Storeroom. Now I have heard mixed reviews on the place but we decided that you are only in Dublin once if you're lucky so we took the tour. Now it is not a working brewery anymore but thats alright. It explains the history & the steps that go into making the drink. On one of the floors I became a master. Thats right I learned to pour the perfect pint of Guinness. I even have a certificate that says it!
After the Guinness Storeroom we walked along the waterfront & found a good place to finally sit down for a bit of dinner. Following dinner we walked some more and found ourselves at the Temple Bar District...but that my friends is a whole different blog post...
So day 2 begins.
We head out on foot as we decided not to pick up a rental car until we leave tomorrow. After a quick coffee and breakfast sandwich at the local shop downstairs we walked for a bit to Trinity College. This is home to the famous Book of Kells.
The line to get into the old library & the Book of Kells was a long one, we had to queue up outside. At this point you should probably know that it was raining...not a heavy downfall, more of a light sprinkle to mist. From what the locals tell us it has been unseasonably rainy even for them). As we waited outside in the rain I noticed that the Death Star from Star Wars was on display.
Okay it wasn't really the death star, it was a rotating sculpture/artwork outside. If you look at the pictures you will totally see what I mean.
Back to the library & the Kells. Oh my gosh, this was so totally worth it. The library alone reminded me of something you might see in Harry Potter. The smell....I can't describe it, but it even smelled like I imagine it would in the HP movie. I was only disappointed to realize that no book was going to magically float up to put itself away. The Book of Kells was just as amazing. Seeing it in person & seeing how it came to be and the hours, days and months of hand scribing that went into it was just impressive.
From Trinity College we headed on & came across Dublin Castle. We were going to tour it, but we would have had to wait an hour or so until the next tour went on so we just took a lot of pictures and walked on.
In so doing we moved on to see St. Patrick's Cathedral. Holy goodness this place was truly inspiring. I was impressed that something so beautiful & grand could have been built when it was. Upon entering the church I actually felt more peaceful. Each of the rows where one would traditionally find pews were individual wooden chairs. What was cool was that each chair had its own seat cushion that someone had created needlepoint works of art with. Each cushion was different and represented something different. Amazing. The history on display truly makes one sit in awe that society is where it is today. I sat for a bit one one of the chairs and had a moment to take everything in & to say a few words with my mom. She would have loved this Cathedral. After my lil cry I thought it best to wrap up my visit. I needed no souvenir from St. Patricks as I felt it is something that will be in my heart for the remainder of my time.
From St. Patrick's we walked on some more & found ourselves at the Guinness Storeroom. Now I have heard mixed reviews on the place but we decided that you are only in Dublin once if you're lucky so we took the tour. Now it is not a working brewery anymore but thats alright. It explains the history & the steps that go into making the drink. On one of the floors I became a master. Thats right I learned to pour the perfect pint of Guinness. I even have a certificate that says it!
After the Guinness Storeroom we walked along the waterfront & found a good place to finally sit down for a bit of dinner. Following dinner we walked some more and found ourselves at the Temple Bar District...but that my friends is a whole different blog post...
Day 1 of the adventure...
Day one:
Woke up early.
Went to the airport.
Took some long flights.
Arrived in IRELAND!!!!!!!!!
Upon our arrival in Ireland we encountered the longest line in the history of lines...Customs. Apparently while tourism makes up about 80-90% of the country's economy they are still in the early 1800's with their customs. You see there was exactly 2 customs booths open for non EU residents. My friends and I were in the back of the plane, therefore by the time we de-planed we ended up in the back of the customs line. I am not kidding you when I tell you that the line stretched from the custom booths, almost all the way back to where we had just stepped off our plane! It was nearly an hour before we were able to actually get our official stamps :)
Once in the arrivals terminal we collected our respective bags and discovered that our 6th travel friend had already arrived. Actually I should clarify...his plane arrived. It would seem that Kelly's adventure to Ireland had a twist or two on his final layover in London. Now you have to also realize that we have no phones and no way to contact him to find out what the heck happened so what do you think we did? If you guessed that we walked to the one and only pub in the terminal to have our inaugural pint of Guinness then you my friend are correct! After finding out that the airline cannot tell us if Kelly missed his plane or if he is on any other flight in, we decided that at least 3 of us should go to our Townhouse to check in. So it was that Bettina, Tracy & myself found our way to a taxi and the Fitzwilliam Townhouse in Dublin.
Our rooms were just big enough to fit 1 Double size & 1 Twin size bed + a small desk. In order to open the door to exit the room one has to stand to the side so the door can clear the dresser.
The bathroom though....oooh the bathroom. I'm sorry its not a "bathroom" here. If you ask for one you will get strange looks from the locals. As I was in formed "the toilet is to the back, but you'll no find a bath in there". I am sidetracked though. So our bathroom....what you should do at this moment is stand up, stretch your arms out to the sides as if you are a plane. If you are somewhere that you can do this & you haven't touched anything with either hand, then you are somewhere bigger than the "toilet" in our rooms. Quite literally the toilet sits next to the shower & you can just about shower while going to the can. I shared the photos to prove this with some friends & my dad's reply was that the Irish are just efficient, one person can go to the bathroom & scrub the back the other one who is showering!!
At any rate, the 3 of us take a 2 hour nap, upon waking we find that our other 3 friend have still not made it from the airport. We log into our ipad & try to "Facetime" with Kaylene who also has an ipad with her. There is no answer. We look on FB only to find that Kelly arrived but into a different terminal & he could not find us. We were getting ready to go back to the airport ourselves when low & behold the other great travelers appear at the front stoop.
B, T & I decide to go for a walk to allow the other 3 some time to take a nap as well (we had all been traveling just about 24 hrs by this time). We head out and find St James Green. It is Dublin's version of Central Park. To say it was lush, green and breathtakingly gorgeous would be an understatement. There is a pond, swans, greens and countless statues within the park.
I think I could have spent an entire day just soaking up the scenery in the park alone. Upon exiting the park we found ourselves on the famous Grafton street...the shopping district. We walked ourselves around and saw some cute little shops, some major named stores, but most of all we found ourselves immersed among a diverse and entertaining people. Somewhere along the line of gazing at the beauty we found ourselves in and the stores and the people we failed to make note of where we were going and thus our real 1st adventure began. We were lost. It must have taken us about an hour or more to find our way back to the hotel. All of the buildings looked like they came straight out of the movie set for the Bourne Identity.
When we got back to the hotel, I Skyped with my dad & let him know we made it alright. Everyone woke up and got showered so that we could go out and find ourselves some dinner. The hotelier, Veep, was very helpful and sent us to a place called McGratton's for dinner
. This place appeared to be what we in the states imagine as a stereotypical Irish pub. I had the fish & chips, probably the best I have ever had (and I am not saying that just because I got it in IRL). I had my 2nd Guinness and then my 3rd :) After a lovely dinner we headed out to another Pub just up the street. We were told to go there & when we did the place was totally packed. Why....because there was a live jam session taking place and it was awesome!! After a short bit of not being able to turn around we made our way to the Pub's outdoor patio. Now by this time I may have had my 4th Guinness of the day...maybe ;) Bettina was busy trying to snap photos what seemed to be every 4-5 seconds and we were all giving her a difficult time about it. As we were doing so I looked over to find 2 local gents teasing us as well about us teasing our friend. What do you do in that kind of situation...well if you are me you strike up a conversation & invite them over to our table. Turns out the one gent's name is Flor (pronounced floor). As he explained it his name was like "1 tequila, 2 tequila, 3 tequila ME".
We finished our drinks just in time for closing and we meandered our way back to our hotel. Flor was disappointed that we didn't find the next place & continue drinking, but all of us decided that it had been an incredibly long day & we were all exhausted.
Day 1 was done, we had traveled from 10 AM Arizona time & partied to 1AM Dublin time.
Woke up early.
Went to the airport.
Took some long flights.
Arrived in IRELAND!!!!!!!!!
Upon our arrival in Ireland we encountered the longest line in the history of lines...Customs. Apparently while tourism makes up about 80-90% of the country's economy they are still in the early 1800's with their customs. You see there was exactly 2 customs booths open for non EU residents. My friends and I were in the back of the plane, therefore by the time we de-planed we ended up in the back of the customs line. I am not kidding you when I tell you that the line stretched from the custom booths, almost all the way back to where we had just stepped off our plane! It was nearly an hour before we were able to actually get our official stamps :)
Once in the arrivals terminal we collected our respective bags and discovered that our 6th travel friend had already arrived. Actually I should clarify...his plane arrived. It would seem that Kelly's adventure to Ireland had a twist or two on his final layover in London. Now you have to also realize that we have no phones and no way to contact him to find out what the heck happened so what do you think we did? If you guessed that we walked to the one and only pub in the terminal to have our inaugural pint of Guinness then you my friend are correct! After finding out that the airline cannot tell us if Kelly missed his plane or if he is on any other flight in, we decided that at least 3 of us should go to our Townhouse to check in. So it was that Bettina, Tracy & myself found our way to a taxi and the Fitzwilliam Townhouse in Dublin.
Our rooms were just big enough to fit 1 Double size & 1 Twin size bed + a small desk. In order to open the door to exit the room one has to stand to the side so the door can clear the dresser.
The bathroom though....oooh the bathroom. I'm sorry its not a "bathroom" here. If you ask for one you will get strange looks from the locals. As I was in formed "the toilet is to the back, but you'll no find a bath in there". I am sidetracked though. So our bathroom....what you should do at this moment is stand up, stretch your arms out to the sides as if you are a plane. If you are somewhere that you can do this & you haven't touched anything with either hand, then you are somewhere bigger than the "toilet" in our rooms. Quite literally the toilet sits next to the shower & you can just about shower while going to the can. I shared the photos to prove this with some friends & my dad's reply was that the Irish are just efficient, one person can go to the bathroom & scrub the back the other one who is showering!!
At any rate, the 3 of us take a 2 hour nap, upon waking we find that our other 3 friend have still not made it from the airport. We log into our ipad & try to "Facetime" with Kaylene who also has an ipad with her. There is no answer. We look on FB only to find that Kelly arrived but into a different terminal & he could not find us. We were getting ready to go back to the airport ourselves when low & behold the other great travelers appear at the front stoop.
B, T & I decide to go for a walk to allow the other 3 some time to take a nap as well (we had all been traveling just about 24 hrs by this time). We head out and find St James Green. It is Dublin's version of Central Park. To say it was lush, green and breathtakingly gorgeous would be an understatement. There is a pond, swans, greens and countless statues within the park.
I think I could have spent an entire day just soaking up the scenery in the park alone. Upon exiting the park we found ourselves on the famous Grafton street...the shopping district. We walked ourselves around and saw some cute little shops, some major named stores, but most of all we found ourselves immersed among a diverse and entertaining people. Somewhere along the line of gazing at the beauty we found ourselves in and the stores and the people we failed to make note of where we were going and thus our real 1st adventure began. We were lost. It must have taken us about an hour or more to find our way back to the hotel. All of the buildings looked like they came straight out of the movie set for the Bourne Identity.
When we got back to the hotel, I Skyped with my dad & let him know we made it alright. Everyone woke up and got showered so that we could go out and find ourselves some dinner. The hotelier, Veep, was very helpful and sent us to a place called McGratton's for dinner
. This place appeared to be what we in the states imagine as a stereotypical Irish pub. I had the fish & chips, probably the best I have ever had (and I am not saying that just because I got it in IRL). I had my 2nd Guinness and then my 3rd :) After a lovely dinner we headed out to another Pub just up the street. We were told to go there & when we did the place was totally packed. Why....because there was a live jam session taking place and it was awesome!! After a short bit of not being able to turn around we made our way to the Pub's outdoor patio. Now by this time I may have had my 4th Guinness of the day...maybe ;) Bettina was busy trying to snap photos what seemed to be every 4-5 seconds and we were all giving her a difficult time about it. As we were doing so I looked over to find 2 local gents teasing us as well about us teasing our friend. What do you do in that kind of situation...well if you are me you strike up a conversation & invite them over to our table. Turns out the one gent's name is Flor (pronounced floor). As he explained it his name was like "1 tequila, 2 tequila, 3 tequila ME".
We finished our drinks just in time for closing and we meandered our way back to our hotel. Flor was disappointed that we didn't find the next place & continue drinking, but all of us decided that it had been an incredibly long day & we were all exhausted.
Day 1 was done, we had traveled from 10 AM Arizona time & partied to 1AM Dublin time.
Thursday, June 14, 2012
Travel-Crapsity!
So if you have ready any of the previous posts on this blog then you realize that my friends and I booked our trip thru Travelocity...they shall now and forever be known as Travelcrapsity.
It all started as one Friday morning I was sititng at work and I received an email from Travelocity advising me that the airline had not confirmed my reservation for my trip to Dublin and therefore they were no longer holding any reservations for me. WTF!!!! I booked the trip over a month ago. How can my reservation now be no longer reserved? You know what this email caused...immediate freak out mode. Being the level headed person I am I casually walked away from my desk at work to make a personal call to find out what the hell happened. I am on hold in a queue on the toll free number for approximately 8-10 minutes when I hear someone pick up & when I say hello they hung up on me. Oh my god they totally didn't just do that. Now I'm freaking out & in the beginning stages of being pissed off.
I call Bettina & get her voicemail. I left her a message telling here that I needed to be talked off the ledge & that she needed to immediately check her emails too. Then I texted Tracy & let her know that some bad voodoo was going down. Since I received no immediate response from anyone I did the next logical thing. I went home to take care of business. Upon arriving home I called Travelcrapsity again. This time a guy by the name of "Alvis" answered my call. He informed me that what had actually happened was that the 1st leg of my return trip (Dublin to London) had been cancelled by the airline. Well alright, that can be fixed easily enough. My mind is put at ease. Alvis tells me "I vill have to put you on hold for two to tree minutes" (yes I realize it looks like I misspelled easy words, but I didn't...that is really just how he sounded. You have to imagine Aboo from the Simpsons when you read that line). So Alvis puts me on hold & when he comes back he tells me he has an option for me. This was it. He suggests that we fly from Dublin to Frankfurt to London. Seriously, he suggested that we fly over London & into Germany in order to have a lay over to get to our lay over connection. I told him that would not work as that made no sense as a solution. Alvis then asked me what my destination was. I asked him if he was looking at his computer because if he was then he would have realized that my destination was home, America, AZ...not London. He then told me that he was from Mumbai and apologized if he didn't understand what I needed him to do. I asked Alvis for his manager as I didn't feel that his location should have effected his ability to provide customer service. Alvis refused. He also then refused to look for any other potential solutions. At this point you have to realize that I have been on the phone with him for at least 30 minutes. I am losing my cool faster than Lindsay Lohan can down a bottle of vodka in the morning. He puts me on hold again for some reason that I have no idea & when he got back on the line my temper had boiled over for what will be the first time for the day. I maaaaaaaay have told him that I didn't care if he was a friggen camel jockey or just plain stupid, and that he needed to pull his head out of his ass & start using it to come up with a solution. Lets just say he never came up with a solution so I told him to do nothing more, to not even try to do anything since I figured he would be good at that.
I then call Bettina back again. This time she answers & tells me that she got the same email & that she had also just had a very unproductive conversation with another Travelcrapsity customer dis-service representative. My blood is still boiling & I'm fairly positive my blood pressure was through the roof. Instead of trying to coordinate the different answers Bettina & I were getting we decide that I would just go over to Bettina's house to make 1 phone call for all of us.
Okay I'm just going to put this out there as a pre-warning. I probably was not the best idea to have me as the one making the call to Travelcrapsity. That having been said I did make the call. I can't even tell you the dis-service representative that spoke with's name. I just know that I could not understand a friggen word she said. Initially she told me that there was nothing wrong with any of our bookings & when I insisted that I had received an email to the contrary she put me on hold for "two to three minutes" and came back on the line to inform me of the exact same thing I had told her I was calling to fix in the first place. Okay deep breath while she again puts me on hold for "one to two minutes" to find an option. This time she comes back with the following "option" we can fly from Dublin to Dusseldorf to London to New Jersey to Charlotte to home. When she asked if that was acceptable I said no it was unacceptable. This woman (who by the way totaly sounded like a man) had enough audacity to ask me if I didn't want to rebook then why was I calling & "wasting her time" yes, she actually told me I was wasting her time because I rejected the offer for a flight with 4 different layovers. I asked if she could just rebook the section of our flights that had been cancelled. I am now yelling at the top of my lungs. Thank goodness Bettina & her son were in the room cracking up, otherwise i would have freaked out even more. As it was I made Bettina take over the call so I could literally walk out of the room.
We had to be placed on hold again, this time so we could be conferenced in with Luftahansa Air. Oh happy day. The absolutely amazing & wonderful woman from Luftahansa not only spoke english, she knew exactly what we were asking as a solution to the problem. During the process of rebooking the initial leg for each of our reservations even the Lufthasana lady was growing frustrated with the complete lack of ability and understanding of basic job requirements from the Travelcrapsity lady. In the end what we found out is that the flight had in fact never been cancelled. What happened was that one airline merged with another & as a result the TSA required a new flight number. 2 hours later we have rebooked the initial leg of the return trip to have exactly what we started out with in the first place. Thanks to Travelcrapsity for catching their friggen error & just fixing things vs cancelling out our flights.
Bottom line folks, pay a little more & book somehwere...anywhere else than with Travelcrapsity unless you like to have gray hair & heartburn.
so...30 days and counting!!!
Wednesday, April 25, 2012
Ireland Car Hire Part Deux
Oh dear baby jesus. There are officially 6 people on the plane to craziness.
That means that our previously booked reservations had to be changed. This included the bitch of the bookings...the rental car. Okay, here is the gist of the great upgrade debacle....
The upgrade from an Irish stationwagon to an Irish minivan a.k.a. people carrier is approximately $500. Holy hell that is more expensive than the per person previously booked rental car we had. We toyed with the idea of renting 2 smaller cars but figured we'd spend more on fuel, soooo, we called Dan Dooley Rental Car for the official quote for an upgrade upon the stationwagon.
What we found out is this. A people carrier is not equivalent to what us Americans think of when we picture a minivan. Yes, technically it will carry 6 passengers, but this is the layout...2 front seats (driver & front seat passenger) a middle bench seat for 3 and the last passenger would have to ride in a flip seat located in the boot of the van. Think of a quad cab pickup truck with the flip down seat in the back. You know the one that nobody wants to sit in because it is terribly uncomfortable. The rental lady tells us that if we use the jump seat in the far back we will also lose precious luggage space. She actually recommended going with the 2 economy cars as they will fit 4 people and 2 suitcases per vehicle. With this arrangement we will have space for 6 pieces of luggage between the 2 cars and more than enough room for our 6 travelers.
On the down side, I will have to drive the entire time as will Joe. On the positive side, both Joe & I enjoy driving so hopefully it won't be a big deal. Another positive is that with economy class cars, we can hire a diesel car vs traditional petrol cars. This means that we will have more fuel efficient cars & potentially actually save some moolah on gas vs spending more for a car that gets minimal miles to the gallon! The last positive side is that with 2 economy cars, the increase in our rental expense is only $100 vs. $500. Okay, thats a bonus.
Look out Ireland there is going to be a US convoy o economy cars with 2 totes inexperiences left side drivers! Things just got more interesting yet again. We're thinking of making a video on how to drive in Ireland from an American's perspective. More to come on that idea...
That means that our previously booked reservations had to be changed. This included the bitch of the bookings...the rental car. Okay, here is the gist of the great upgrade debacle....
The upgrade from an Irish stationwagon to an Irish minivan a.k.a. people carrier is approximately $500. Holy hell that is more expensive than the per person previously booked rental car we had. We toyed with the idea of renting 2 smaller cars but figured we'd spend more on fuel, soooo, we called Dan Dooley Rental Car for the official quote for an upgrade upon the stationwagon.
What we found out is this. A people carrier is not equivalent to what us Americans think of when we picture a minivan. Yes, technically it will carry 6 passengers, but this is the layout...2 front seats (driver & front seat passenger) a middle bench seat for 3 and the last passenger would have to ride in a flip seat located in the boot of the van. Think of a quad cab pickup truck with the flip down seat in the back. You know the one that nobody wants to sit in because it is terribly uncomfortable. The rental lady tells us that if we use the jump seat in the far back we will also lose precious luggage space. She actually recommended going with the 2 economy cars as they will fit 4 people and 2 suitcases per vehicle. With this arrangement we will have space for 6 pieces of luggage between the 2 cars and more than enough room for our 6 travelers.
On the down side, I will have to drive the entire time as will Joe. On the positive side, both Joe & I enjoy driving so hopefully it won't be a big deal. Another positive is that with economy class cars, we can hire a diesel car vs traditional petrol cars. This means that we will have more fuel efficient cars & potentially actually save some moolah on gas vs spending more for a car that gets minimal miles to the gallon! The last positive side is that with 2 economy cars, the increase in our rental expense is only $100 vs. $500. Okay, thats a bonus.
Look out Ireland there is going to be a US convoy o economy cars with 2 totes inexperiences left side drivers! Things just got more interesting yet again. We're thinking of making a video on how to drive in Ireland from an American's perspective. More to come on that idea...
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
And Then There Were 6
So this trip is so wickedly awesome that everyone wants to join in! No seriously we should totes be travel agents.
Okay, our first last minute addition was Kaylene. We chatted up the trip so much that she couldn't help but break out the credit card & buy a round trip tiket to funville with us. One day after Kaylene bought her ticket the group got together at Bettina's house to congratulate ourselves on booking a trip that could potentially bankrupt us all...in a good way. Anyway, at this gathering the subject somehow changed for a bit from the trip & where we all wanted to go to a conversation about who Kaylene has been dating lately. Turns out this guy is a US Marine sationed down in Yuma. It also turns out that he is Irish. I can't remember if Kaylene ansked for permission to invite him on the trip or if we proactively gave her the okay as she sat there texting him during our night.
Jump forward about a month later and low and behold we finally get to meet the man. First of all, I have to say that I am impressed by the young man. He is respectful of the adults and he is respectful to Kaylene. From what I have heard and what I have seen he is definitely a rare find & I'm happy that he makes Kaylene happy!
Anyway turns out that he really wants to go on the trip with us. I thought he was just saying that he wanted to go so as to spare our feelers if he declined. No what I found out is that he is totes serious. He was already shopping for tickets for the trip! So our total headcount is now up to 6!!
What does this mean for us...
1. We have to rebook our B&Bs to include an additional room &
2. We have to rebook the rental car/car hire.
The question on the rental becomes this...upgrade to a minivan aka "people carrier" or do we get 2 economy cars. The difference is this. With the people carrier we can all be in one car and that should help save on the fuel charges. Luggage is still a concern, while the car gets bigger the luggage space does not increase proportionally. With the 2 economy cars, we will have to split our cars up with 3 people to a car or 4 & 2 but the luggage situation becomes a bit better.
The problems...with 2 cars, both Joe & I will have to drive the whole time & that means we can't stare endlessly at the beautiful landscape because we will be too busy trying to not poop our pants on the narrow roads. If we get the people carrier the problem is that strangely enough it will cost us more than 2 economy cars.
Ugh the dilemma!
Any thoughts on which way to go? Any feedback, just let me know!!
Okay, our first last minute addition was Kaylene. We chatted up the trip so much that she couldn't help but break out the credit card & buy a round trip tiket to funville with us. One day after Kaylene bought her ticket the group got together at Bettina's house to congratulate ourselves on booking a trip that could potentially bankrupt us all...in a good way. Anyway, at this gathering the subject somehow changed for a bit from the trip & where we all wanted to go to a conversation about who Kaylene has been dating lately. Turns out this guy is a US Marine sationed down in Yuma. It also turns out that he is Irish. I can't remember if Kaylene ansked for permission to invite him on the trip or if we proactively gave her the okay as she sat there texting him during our night.
Jump forward about a month later and low and behold we finally get to meet the man. First of all, I have to say that I am impressed by the young man. He is respectful of the adults and he is respectful to Kaylene. From what I have heard and what I have seen he is definitely a rare find & I'm happy that he makes Kaylene happy!
Anyway turns out that he really wants to go on the trip with us. I thought he was just saying that he wanted to go so as to spare our feelers if he declined. No what I found out is that he is totes serious. He was already shopping for tickets for the trip! So our total headcount is now up to 6!!
What does this mean for us...
1. We have to rebook our B&Bs to include an additional room &
2. We have to rebook the rental car/car hire.
The question on the rental becomes this...upgrade to a minivan aka "people carrier" or do we get 2 economy cars. The difference is this. With the people carrier we can all be in one car and that should help save on the fuel charges. Luggage is still a concern, while the car gets bigger the luggage space does not increase proportionally. With the 2 economy cars, we will have to split our cars up with 3 people to a car or 4 & 2 but the luggage situation becomes a bit better.
The problems...with 2 cars, both Joe & I will have to drive the whole time & that means we can't stare endlessly at the beautiful landscape because we will be too busy trying to not poop our pants on the narrow roads. If we get the people carrier the problem is that strangely enough it will cost us more than 2 economy cars.
Ugh the dilemma!
Any thoughts on which way to go? Any feedback, just let me know!!
Monday, April 16, 2012
Ireland Rental Cars
Ok...so this has been by far the most challenging & frustrating portion of planning our trip for Ireland.
I mean there are apparenly tons of hidden fees and charges that I had no idea to ask about before trying to book a reservation. As I said in a previous post, I'm an auto adjuster so part of my daily duties includes dealing with rental cars. All stateside, but that didn't prepare me for this.
Holy crapola! Ok so if you've been reading any of the posts from this blog so far then you know that our trip consists of 5 adults. That means that we need a car big enough for 5 people and 5 people's worth of luggage.
Lesson #1. Ireland's car hire services have cars that say they are big enough for 5 people. Like for example a Ford Fiesta. What the hell, that is a compact car by US standards! What, are we supposed to load people in like clowns in a clown car? I mean Kaylene is the tiniest traveler we have, but I don't think that anyone wants her to sit on anyone's lap for several hours.
Lesson #2. Ireland car rentals have no trunks, no "boots" no storage space and no luggage racks. Again, what the hell! Don't the Irish know that when people travel, especially when people travel overseas they will have most definitely have luggage!
So I found a car that says it will fit 5 peope and 2 pieces of luggage. At this point I'm about to tell everyone that they need to wear everything that they want to wear all layered up. Yes, I realize this means we will look like abomindable snowmen, but it seems plausible at this time. Just think of the positives...we won't have to worry about paying a luggage handline fee at the airline, we will be nice and toasty warm when the weather turns cold and, we will have extra cusioning that we can use for pillows on our flights with all the extra layers of clothes!
I have looked thru the Rick Steves book and several various websites for advice on the best way to go about booking the car rental. First we looked online at Irish Car Hire Brokerage. We found a rental car that was way too good to be true, it was going to be only around 300 Eruo for the entire 13 days we needed it. Upon researching it turns out that the price was for a compact car that they say would fit 5 (I'm thinking 5 Leprechauns), it did not include any insurance, we would be charged extra for driving into Northern Irland and god knows what other ridiculous charges were included. I suggested that we keep looking. All were in agreement.
If you've never traveled outside of the states a good thing to remember is that your local auot insurance will not provide coverage to you once you leave our borders. This means that it is a good idea to purchase rental car insurance in order to protect yourself. I mean can you imaging trying to settle something on an overseas claim and all the problems that could occur due to the time difference alone? Okay again I realize it may be a hazzard of my profession but I can't suggest insurance highly enough considering all the claims I've handled over the years with international travelers who have had accidents in US rental cars while on their vacations.
As for insurance...Lesson #3. Make sure your rental insurance in included in your price quote before you arrive. We have found that if you purchase the coverage at the rental desk upon arrival in Ireland, the price for insurance can double! The other thing is that they have multiple types of insurance that you need to consider. I suggest reading up & asking the various carriers to definde what each covers so you know how you are protected and what gaps in coverage may exist that you can become personally responsible for.
Okay I know that totes got serious for a minute, again I apologize. Job Hazzard!
So what way did we finally go. We called Dan Dooley Car Hire
We are now officially booked for the rental car. Dan Dooley may not have provided us with the lowest quote, but at least we have peace of mind that there will be no hidden fees when we arrive!
So in closing for this post...
Airline booked - Check!
Acommodations booked - Check!
Car Hire booked - Check!
Now onto saving up for food & bevvy. At this point I'm thinking with all the drinking we are planning we might need just as much $$ saved up for food and drink as we did for the bulk of the other bookings :)
Now I feel like I can sit back, sip a wine or two and dream of the magical land o Ireland
((fyi, if you get the chance, google "dark hedges" in Ireland & you'll see why I'm thinking magical Ireland))
I mean there are apparenly tons of hidden fees and charges that I had no idea to ask about before trying to book a reservation. As I said in a previous post, I'm an auto adjuster so part of my daily duties includes dealing with rental cars. All stateside, but that didn't prepare me for this.
Holy crapola! Ok so if you've been reading any of the posts from this blog so far then you know that our trip consists of 5 adults. That means that we need a car big enough for 5 people and 5 people's worth of luggage.
Lesson #1. Ireland's car hire services have cars that say they are big enough for 5 people. Like for example a Ford Fiesta. What the hell, that is a compact car by US standards! What, are we supposed to load people in like clowns in a clown car? I mean Kaylene is the tiniest traveler we have, but I don't think that anyone wants her to sit on anyone's lap for several hours.
Lesson #2. Ireland car rentals have no trunks, no "boots" no storage space and no luggage racks. Again, what the hell! Don't the Irish know that when people travel, especially when people travel overseas they will have most definitely have luggage!
So I found a car that says it will fit 5 peope and 2 pieces of luggage. At this point I'm about to tell everyone that they need to wear everything that they want to wear all layered up. Yes, I realize this means we will look like abomindable snowmen, but it seems plausible at this time. Just think of the positives...we won't have to worry about paying a luggage handline fee at the airline, we will be nice and toasty warm when the weather turns cold and, we will have extra cusioning that we can use for pillows on our flights with all the extra layers of clothes!
I have looked thru the Rick Steves book and several various websites for advice on the best way to go about booking the car rental. First we looked online at Irish Car Hire Brokerage. We found a rental car that was way too good to be true, it was going to be only around 300 Eruo for the entire 13 days we needed it. Upon researching it turns out that the price was for a compact car that they say would fit 5 (I'm thinking 5 Leprechauns), it did not include any insurance, we would be charged extra for driving into Northern Irland and god knows what other ridiculous charges were included. I suggested that we keep looking. All were in agreement.
If you've never traveled outside of the states a good thing to remember is that your local auot insurance will not provide coverage to you once you leave our borders. This means that it is a good idea to purchase rental car insurance in order to protect yourself. I mean can you imaging trying to settle something on an overseas claim and all the problems that could occur due to the time difference alone? Okay again I realize it may be a hazzard of my profession but I can't suggest insurance highly enough considering all the claims I've handled over the years with international travelers who have had accidents in US rental cars while on their vacations.
As for insurance...Lesson #3. Make sure your rental insurance in included in your price quote before you arrive. We have found that if you purchase the coverage at the rental desk upon arrival in Ireland, the price for insurance can double! The other thing is that they have multiple types of insurance that you need to consider. I suggest reading up & asking the various carriers to definde what each covers so you know how you are protected and what gaps in coverage may exist that you can become personally responsible for.
Okay I know that totes got serious for a minute, again I apologize. Job Hazzard!
So what way did we finally go. We called Dan Dooley Car Hire
We are now officially booked for the rental car. Dan Dooley may not have provided us with the lowest quote, but at least we have peace of mind that there will be no hidden fees when we arrive!
So in closing for this post...
Airline booked - Check!
Acommodations booked - Check!
Car Hire booked - Check!
Now onto saving up for food & bevvy. At this point I'm thinking with all the drinking we are planning we might need just as much $$ saved up for food and drink as we did for the bulk of the other bookings :)
Now I feel like I can sit back, sip a wine or two and dream of the magical land o Ireland
((fyi, if you get the chance, google "dark hedges" in Ireland & you'll see why I'm thinking magical Ireland))
Thursday, April 12, 2012
Additional Traveler
Okay, so quick update...
Bettina's daughter, Kaylene has been drooling over our plans for Ireland. Her mother and I told her that if she could find a way to afford a ticket to Ireland, then she was more than welcome to join in the madness. Well turns out she is s pretty resourceful girl. Add 1 more for Ireland!!
Trip tally is now to 5 travelers. This should be interesting. Kaylene is the youngest one in the gang by over 10 years. Hopefully she will be too drunk at night to be bothered by all the snoring that will be going in in our rooms. For that matter I hope I'm drunk enough that it won't bother me either ha!
With the addition of Kaylene the only thing that will be changing is our plans for a rental car. We will now have to upgrade to a larger vehicle. Doesn't seem like a big thing, but holy hell did it change the cost.
My next post will be about renting a car in Ireland. That my friends is definitely a different experience than it is here in the states. The hard thing to find is a rental agency that is straight forward with all their charges!
More to come yet again and we're still 3 months out from the adventure!!
Bettina's daughter, Kaylene has been drooling over our plans for Ireland. Her mother and I told her that if she could find a way to afford a ticket to Ireland, then she was more than welcome to join in the madness. Well turns out she is s pretty resourceful girl. Add 1 more for Ireland!!
Trip tally is now to 5 travelers. This should be interesting. Kaylene is the youngest one in the gang by over 10 years. Hopefully she will be too drunk at night to be bothered by all the snoring that will be going in in our rooms. For that matter I hope I'm drunk enough that it won't bother me either ha!
With the addition of Kaylene the only thing that will be changing is our plans for a rental car. We will now have to upgrade to a larger vehicle. Doesn't seem like a big thing, but holy hell did it change the cost.
My next post will be about renting a car in Ireland. That my friends is definitely a different experience than it is here in the states. The hard thing to find is a rental agency that is straight forward with all their charges!
More to come yet again and we're still 3 months out from the adventure!!
Ireland B&Bs
So from my previous post you can see that we have put the cart before the horse and we booked our flight & the 2nd week of our travels, but we didn't lay out the plan for the rest of the trip.
What the hell were we thinking. Okay, to be honest what we were thinking was pretty awesome and the rest should just fall into place right. Well perhaps it would if we knew what the hell we were doing.
I have been put in charge of finding the accommodations for the remainder of the trip since Bettina found the airfare to get us there. Well that is good and bad depending on my friends and what they may have had in mind. Why you ask? Well you see I have this idealized vision of Ireland and what the trip should look like. As a result I refuse to look at any major hotel chain, or any hotel chain for that matter. I made the executive decision that we are going to stay 100% of the time at bed & breakfasts.
I just want to put a huge thank you out there in the universe to Rick Steves. Without his book I'm not sure where I would have stared. Thanks to him I was able to get the swing of things as far as what to look for and what is reasonable etc. As you read this I have no officially booked the remainder of our trip!!
We will be starting off at a nice looking B&B in Dublin called The Fitzwilliam Townhouse. It appear to be close to Trinity College & within walking distance to a great many things that are on our list of things to do. This is of course until the drinking starts, then I'm sure it will be more like a long ass walk that will never end as we get lost every 5 minutes...just sayin.
Next we will be going to Donegal for 1 night. This B&B is my friend's favorite choice. Again mind you that all I had to go by when booking was online reviews (which can be good & sometimes just terrible LOL) Anyway, in Donegal we will be staying at the Drumcorroy B&B. This is an actual working sheep farm! Now aside from the fear of stepping in sheep poo or hearing them bleet all night, it sounds kinda cool. I mean if you imagine Irleand don't you see sheep blocking the roads etc....well we're going to be spending a night at the source of the sheep blockades ha!
Luckily for 2 nights a friend will be putting us up as he lives near Belfast. Thank god a local who will be able to not only tell us where to go, but he can actually tell us how to get there. I'm looking forward to that, even if it means that someone might be sleeping on the floor or a couch etc.
After Dublin we will be moseying our way down the coast to a place called Kinsale. The B&B there is called the Ashgrove Guesthouse. Now online this place gets awesome reviews as far as the quality of the breakfasts...is the proprietor that gets mixed reviews. I have made i my mission to make her love us before we get there & I have been sickeningly cordial in each of my emails to her. Hopefully she will actually be looking forward to our arrival.
After Kinsale we are onto the cottage we booked (as mentioned in the prior blog post)
Finally our last place we will be staying is called the Tudor Lodge which is in Glendalough. You should look this one up online, its a very pretty looking B&B.
The one thing that I think I've enjoyed about setting up the trip for my friends is that I am now on a first name basis with most of the proprietors for the B&Bs we will be staying at. I have to say this is a much more personalized way to go and even if the accommodations suck, it is already 10x better than any hotel chain and the experience is way better!
I would totes suggest that b&bs are the way to go no matter where you plan to travel!
What the hell were we thinking. Okay, to be honest what we were thinking was pretty awesome and the rest should just fall into place right. Well perhaps it would if we knew what the hell we were doing.
I have been put in charge of finding the accommodations for the remainder of the trip since Bettina found the airfare to get us there. Well that is good and bad depending on my friends and what they may have had in mind. Why you ask? Well you see I have this idealized vision of Ireland and what the trip should look like. As a result I refuse to look at any major hotel chain, or any hotel chain for that matter. I made the executive decision that we are going to stay 100% of the time at bed & breakfasts.
I just want to put a huge thank you out there in the universe to Rick Steves. Without his book I'm not sure where I would have stared. Thanks to him I was able to get the swing of things as far as what to look for and what is reasonable etc. As you read this I have no officially booked the remainder of our trip!!
We will be starting off at a nice looking B&B in Dublin called The Fitzwilliam Townhouse. It appear to be close to Trinity College & within walking distance to a great many things that are on our list of things to do. This is of course until the drinking starts, then I'm sure it will be more like a long ass walk that will never end as we get lost every 5 minutes...just sayin.
Next we will be going to Donegal for 1 night. This B&B is my friend's favorite choice. Again mind you that all I had to go by when booking was online reviews (which can be good & sometimes just terrible LOL) Anyway, in Donegal we will be staying at the Drumcorroy B&B. This is an actual working sheep farm! Now aside from the fear of stepping in sheep poo or hearing them bleet all night, it sounds kinda cool. I mean if you imagine Irleand don't you see sheep blocking the roads etc....well we're going to be spending a night at the source of the sheep blockades ha!
Luckily for 2 nights a friend will be putting us up as he lives near Belfast. Thank god a local who will be able to not only tell us where to go, but he can actually tell us how to get there. I'm looking forward to that, even if it means that someone might be sleeping on the floor or a couch etc.
After Dublin we will be moseying our way down the coast to a place called Kinsale. The B&B there is called the Ashgrove Guesthouse. Now online this place gets awesome reviews as far as the quality of the breakfasts...is the proprietor that gets mixed reviews. I have made i my mission to make her love us before we get there & I have been sickeningly cordial in each of my emails to her. Hopefully she will actually be looking forward to our arrival.
After Kinsale we are onto the cottage we booked (as mentioned in the prior blog post)
Finally our last place we will be staying is called the Tudor Lodge which is in Glendalough. You should look this one up online, its a very pretty looking B&B.
The one thing that I think I've enjoyed about setting up the trip for my friends is that I am now on a first name basis with most of the proprietors for the B&Bs we will be staying at. I have to say this is a much more personalized way to go and even if the accommodations suck, it is already 10x better than any hotel chain and the experience is way better!
I would totes suggest that b&bs are the way to go no matter where you plan to travel!
Friday, April 6, 2012
2102...the year I will finally see Ireland live and in person!
It all started when my friend from college decided to make a life change & move to Arizona from Ohio. I offered to let her move into the spare room of my house for a few months until she could find a place of her own. I hadn't seen Tracy in over 10+ years when I extended this offer. Well it turned out to be a life changer for me too. You see when she got here we started to catch up and one night as we were talking about my mom (who by the way loved all things Irish) Tracy happened to mention how she and a friend of her from OH we're wanting to plan a trip to Ireland this year. Naturally I invited myself Long!
Well as it turns out, Tracy's friend picked up a new job & can't afford to take the time off to go anymore. Now the trip had become Tracy & I alone. Not that I don't want to travel alone with my friend, but how much fun would it be if some of our other friends could come along as well. Thus the recruitment began.
First I mention the trip to my bestie, Roxy. I explain to her that I will be planning the trip & that I would love to have her along too...I mean how could I possibly begin to plan an international road trip with my best road tripping friend! ((I may have also mentioned to her that I was going to take some of my mom's ashes so she could eternally play in the land she always dreamed of)). So fruits of that labor equal exactly 2 mushy "maybe" responses...maybe yes for the whole trip and maybe yes for just 1 week of the 2 week adventure.
Next I mention the trip to Bettina and Joe. I've also known them for several years now and they too know how I have always wanted to travel to the land of the great Guinness makers! Well they were totes excited for me and hoped I had a good time but they didn't think they could make it either...but they would think about it. Thats all I had to hear, it's like from the movie Dumb & Dumber....they were saying I had a chance! Every time I saw them I was talking about the trip in one way or another. Lucky for me, one night I needed to have my kitchen faucet replaced (that's a whole different story, lets just say ugh, plumbing in my house is a nightmare). I asked Joe to come help me as he is 1. A good handyman & 2. A good guy that I knew would help a girl out. As it turns out, Bettina agreed to come ov with him to help me do some research for the trip online so she can see if it is realistic for them to consider joining in.
As luck would have it once agin, Bettina happened to mention that it might be better to look into "self catered" rental homes since we were to be going for 2 weeks. I was manning my computer, Bettina her iPad & Joe my kitchen faucet. Bettina & I found several maybe options but nothing that made us move the trip from a pipe dream to reality. Nothing that is until we googled thatched roof cottages. We figured if we were going to doa this, we might as well do it right. Well we found a cute little place that was love upon first site. It is called Barley Cove Thatched Cottage.
Is little cottage had Bettina & I giddy with excitement! Here is why:
1. It is cute as hell
2. It was available for the week we wanted to go (nearly all the others were not)
3. It is in the perfect location to serve as a base for day tripping around western and southern Ireland
4. It is big enough for all 4 people + more if Roxy & her husband find a way to swing the trip
5. it is only €595 for the entire week!
Holy shit this was like the Holy grail of places to stay. Bettina agrees to call them the next morning to check to see if we can book it. What happened was that we ended up finding an emails address for the proprietor on the cottage website. We email her & presto this shit just got real, we have booked a rental cottage for the second week of our trip! A wonderfully nice woman named Fidelma McNamera let us know that she lives next door & that she will be providing us with eggs fresh from their hens each morning & that we will also get to meet their mules, Stella & Toby. Oh my god that email made e whole thing even better!
Bettina confided in me that before finding the cottage, she & Joe had agreed that they would gracefully back out that night when they came over to fix my faucet, but that cottage totes changed their minds. Now in case you're wondering what happened to Tracy in all this...well she works nights when the planning unexpectedly jumped into high gear. She was by the way totes onboard with our plans anyway. Turns out, she actually prefers that Bettina & I take the reigns for the planning. Ok..really I'm totes all over that.
Well now let's recap, the trip that did not include me added me, then became me & Tracy, now has become me, Tracy, Bettina & Joe with a chance of a Roxy & Kevin siting somewhere along the lines. Awesom!!
Anyway, we have a friggen cottage booked for a week but no flight there yet. Talk about putting the cart enforce the horse. Anyway, we decided we best get on the ball as July is peak travel season in Ireland and most likely flights prices were going to do nothing but go up. Bettina is my online travel stalker. I think she probably checks flight prices frequently so she can daydream about faraway places. Thanks to that obsession she found us a killer deal compared to some of the prices we had found earlier. Now understand this, Bettina is quite literally a dedicated and loved high school teacher, I am quite literally like the dad from the Incredibles...a boring claims adjuster. S one day we are both diligently slaving away at our respective jobs when I receive a text from Bettina telling me about the killer flight info. The catch is that the travel site she found will not allow us to use multiple credit cards as we were hoping (ie. each of us provides our own). As a result we made an executive decision that Bettina would book 2 flights, 1 for her & the other for Joe and I would book the oth two, 1 for me and one for Tracy. We were paranoid that if we didn't book immediately that we would lose the rates since they have been changing hourly...what is one to do in this kind of situation. Bet your sweet ass you're right, we both decide to boom right then & there without checking with our two other traevel friends. Bettina is trying to book it before her students arrive (which was in about 5 minutes) while I was looking over my shoulder every few seconds to ensure there was no random manager walk by.
I don't know why, but I was nervous as hell to hit the confirm button. Bettina was too, probably because it was a lot of money when you considered we were each about to book 2 international flights each. However it happened, in our excitement we found that we booked a flight that has a 13 hour layover in London on the way home. Oops...
Okay so you read that right...13 hours to kill in an airport...what to do...well holy hell guess what...our luck was still proving to be holding on strong. You see, while we have a huge layover, it also turns up that the 2012 Summer Olympics are in London this year & they start 2 days before we have the layover!
Looks like a trip to Ireland with a short day in London is in my future with good friends and a guaranteed good tie!!
Two words...bad ass!!
More to come...
It all started when my friend from college decided to make a life change & move to Arizona from Ohio. I offered to let her move into the spare room of my house for a few months until she could find a place of her own. I hadn't seen Tracy in over 10+ years when I extended this offer. Well it turned out to be a life changer for me too. You see when she got here we started to catch up and one night as we were talking about my mom (who by the way loved all things Irish) Tracy happened to mention how she and a friend of her from OH we're wanting to plan a trip to Ireland this year. Naturally I invited myself Long!
Well as it turns out, Tracy's friend picked up a new job & can't afford to take the time off to go anymore. Now the trip had become Tracy & I alone. Not that I don't want to travel alone with my friend, but how much fun would it be if some of our other friends could come along as well. Thus the recruitment began.
First I mention the trip to my bestie, Roxy. I explain to her that I will be planning the trip & that I would love to have her along too...I mean how could I possibly begin to plan an international road trip with my best road tripping friend! ((I may have also mentioned to her that I was going to take some of my mom's ashes so she could eternally play in the land she always dreamed of)). So fruits of that labor equal exactly 2 mushy "maybe" responses...maybe yes for the whole trip and maybe yes for just 1 week of the 2 week adventure.
Next I mention the trip to Bettina and Joe. I've also known them for several years now and they too know how I have always wanted to travel to the land of the great Guinness makers! Well they were totes excited for me and hoped I had a good time but they didn't think they could make it either...but they would think about it. Thats all I had to hear, it's like from the movie Dumb & Dumber....they were saying I had a chance! Every time I saw them I was talking about the trip in one way or another. Lucky for me, one night I needed to have my kitchen faucet replaced (that's a whole different story, lets just say ugh, plumbing in my house is a nightmare). I asked Joe to come help me as he is 1. A good handyman & 2. A good guy that I knew would help a girl out. As it turns out, Bettina agreed to come ov with him to help me do some research for the trip online so she can see if it is realistic for them to consider joining in.
As luck would have it once agin, Bettina happened to mention that it might be better to look into "self catered" rental homes since we were to be going for 2 weeks. I was manning my computer, Bettina her iPad & Joe my kitchen faucet. Bettina & I found several maybe options but nothing that made us move the trip from a pipe dream to reality. Nothing that is until we googled thatched roof cottages. We figured if we were going to doa this, we might as well do it right. Well we found a cute little place that was love upon first site. It is called Barley Cove Thatched Cottage.
Is little cottage had Bettina & I giddy with excitement! Here is why:
1. It is cute as hell
2. It was available for the week we wanted to go (nearly all the others were not)
3. It is in the perfect location to serve as a base for day tripping around western and southern Ireland
4. It is big enough for all 4 people + more if Roxy & her husband find a way to swing the trip
5. it is only €595 for the entire week!
Holy shit this was like the Holy grail of places to stay. Bettina agrees to call them the next morning to check to see if we can book it. What happened was that we ended up finding an emails address for the proprietor on the cottage website. We email her & presto this shit just got real, we have booked a rental cottage for the second week of our trip! A wonderfully nice woman named Fidelma McNamera let us know that she lives next door & that she will be providing us with eggs fresh from their hens each morning & that we will also get to meet their mules, Stella & Toby. Oh my god that email made e whole thing even better!
Bettina confided in me that before finding the cottage, she & Joe had agreed that they would gracefully back out that night when they came over to fix my faucet, but that cottage totes changed their minds. Now in case you're wondering what happened to Tracy in all this...well she works nights when the planning unexpectedly jumped into high gear. She was by the way totes onboard with our plans anyway. Turns out, she actually prefers that Bettina & I take the reigns for the planning. Ok..really I'm totes all over that.
Well now let's recap, the trip that did not include me added me, then became me & Tracy, now has become me, Tracy, Bettina & Joe with a chance of a Roxy & Kevin siting somewhere along the lines. Awesom!!
Anyway, we have a friggen cottage booked for a week but no flight there yet. Talk about putting the cart enforce the horse. Anyway, we decided we best get on the ball as July is peak travel season in Ireland and most likely flights prices were going to do nothing but go up. Bettina is my online travel stalker. I think she probably checks flight prices frequently so she can daydream about faraway places. Thanks to that obsession she found us a killer deal compared to some of the prices we had found earlier. Now understand this, Bettina is quite literally a dedicated and loved high school teacher, I am quite literally like the dad from the Incredibles...a boring claims adjuster. S one day we are both diligently slaving away at our respective jobs when I receive a text from Bettina telling me about the killer flight info. The catch is that the travel site she found will not allow us to use multiple credit cards as we were hoping (ie. each of us provides our own). As a result we made an executive decision that Bettina would book 2 flights, 1 for her & the other for Joe and I would book the oth two, 1 for me and one for Tracy. We were paranoid that if we didn't book immediately that we would lose the rates since they have been changing hourly...what is one to do in this kind of situation. Bet your sweet ass you're right, we both decide to boom right then & there without checking with our two other traevel friends. Bettina is trying to book it before her students arrive (which was in about 5 minutes) while I was looking over my shoulder every few seconds to ensure there was no random manager walk by.
I don't know why, but I was nervous as hell to hit the confirm button. Bettina was too, probably because it was a lot of money when you considered we were each about to book 2 international flights each. However it happened, in our excitement we found that we booked a flight that has a 13 hour layover in London on the way home. Oops...
Okay so you read that right...13 hours to kill in an airport...what to do...well holy hell guess what...our luck was still proving to be holding on strong. You see, while we have a huge layover, it also turns up that the 2012 Summer Olympics are in London this year & they start 2 days before we have the layover!
Looks like a trip to Ireland with a short day in London is in my future with good friends and a guaranteed good tie!!
Two words...bad ass!!
More to come...
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